The Octo Re-Expansion
by ItsBlueJay
Summary: A what-if story where Cap'n Cuttlefish never falls into the Metro, and Agent 8 gets stuck with Agent 3 and Dedf1sh instead. Covert art is by @Ikasphere on tumblr! you can find the original post here: https:/ikasphere.tumblr
1. The Fall.

A small octoling with magenta tentacles groans quietly as she comes to, not wanting to open her eyes at all. Her head was pounding, and she could feel every pump of her hearts as they pushed blood through her veins and into her brain. She could feel some sort of pressure on her cheek as well, which she should probably check on, but she was so tired.

"Get up, Octo. I can tell you're awake."

Okay, that was rude. She had a name!! Or… Or did she? She couldn't remember. Actually, she couldn't remember anything. The pressure on her cheek increases, cold and almost slick.

"I said, get the fuck up. If you're trying to spring a surprise attack, it isn't gonna work."

That's enough to get the young woman to open her eyes, only to almost be blinded by the bright beam of a flashlight directly in her face. A flashlight that's directly attached to the business end of a gun. She quickly scrambles backwards, putting her hands up in a defensive position. Not that that would do much, because it's a gun.

A loud sigh comes from behind the weapon, and the octoling looks up from the terrifying muzzle to see an inkling with long orange tentacles and a nasty scar over her left eye staring her down, almost angrily. Their eyes meet for a moment, and the octoling sees the other girl's expression soften. Then the barrel of the gun lowers to the ground, and the scarred woman sighs again.

"You heard it, didn't you? The Inkantation. Your eyes aren't green anymore." Another sigh. "Sorry about threatening you like that. And for… attacking you out of nowhere earlier. Not used to non-hostile octolings. You were probably trying to escape, right?? Can you even understand me?"

The octoling nods, and attempts to speak.

"ㄚ乇丂, 丨 匚卂几 ㄩ几ᗪ乇尺丂ㄒ卂几ᗪ ㄚㄖㄩ. 山卄卂ㄒ 卄卂卩卩乇几乇ᗪ?"

The look of complete and utter confusion on the inkling's face tells the octoling that she absolutely didn't understand that at all. It's quickly followed by a groan and sigh from the agent, who is now dragging her hand down her face. Welp, that was annoying, this communication would likely end up being a one-way street. She would have to try to pick up some spoken inkling, then.

"Oookay. Let's do this then. Blink twice if you can understand what I'm saying."

Blink blink.

"Okay. Well then, it looks like we need to find our way out of here, and we're probably gonna be stuck together."

Well, this seemed like a less than pleasant situation. Whoever this inkling was, she was kind of mean. Although she did seem to be kind of sorry about it. So maybe she wasn't all bad.

"You got a name? Those can usually translate through language barriers."

The octoling looks around, over all of herself… for the life of her, she couldn't remember her name! Why she thought looking at her crotch would help with that, she had no idea. But hey, maybe she had an ID card.

"几ㄖ…"

Shaking her head sadly, she looks back up at the inkling, a melancholy look on her face. Immediately, said inkling turns bright red and looks away.

"D-Don't you dare start crying. Callie does that plenty topside…... But I do need to call you something other than Octoling. Hmm…"

The orange-tentacled woman gently offers a hand out to the Octoling still on the ground, a mix of a peace offering and helping her stand up.

"I'll just call you Ellie. Always liked that name anyways. So, uhh…. Congrats, Ellie, you're officially an agent in the New Squidbeak Splatoon. You'll get your crap whenever we find a way out of here. Speaking of. You see any exits around here?"

The inkling quickly hoists the octoling to her feet, the latter repeating the name she had been given. As she tries to memorize her new name, she follows after the inkling, looking around for any way out. She spots an abandoned train, and points over that way. The Inkling nods, and they walk up a slope and into the empty car.

"Well, we're probably gonna be stuck together for a while, so… My name is Three. No, that isn't my real name, no, I'm not gonna tell you my real name. Nobody aside from my family and Callie knows my real name."

It seems the cold persona has returned, and Ellie shivers a bit at how quick the change is. Something told her this little adventure was not going to be the most enjoyable experience of her life.


	2. The Machine

Ellie hums quietly to herself as they walk through the tunnel, the soft sound filling both girls' ears as they progress. Agent Three seems to at least be a bit... not more friendly, per se, but less business-oriented. More... personal, not nearly as cold as she had been, maybe a bit more relaxed. The deep clomping sound of their boots echo through the hall, bouncing off the walls and filling their ears. The inkling is not particularly a fan of how open their backs are, so she occasionally takes a moment to look back and check their six, while her ears remain constantly perked up, listening for any indication that someone or something is approaching their unguarded flank. Ellie would do the same, but she's completely unarmed, so all she really has to fight with are her claws.

It isn't long until they reach a large chamber, with a room off to the side full of various boxes and crates, and a few launch belts and bounce pads. The walls are a muted grey, and a strange device sits at the entrance of the room. Three looks around for another way, but...

"Dammit, there's an Octarian lock in the way of the other hall. And I'd bet Cap'n's Bamboozler it's in one of those boxes. But... what the hell is that other tech? It looks Inkling, but I've never seen anything like it before. Careful, I dunno what it does. Probably best to find a way around it, if we can."

As Three wonders to herself, Ellie scans around the room for enemies, and, finding none, just... Steps into the machine, which instantly supplies her with an ink tank and an octoshot.

Three just about has a coddamn heart attack.

"What the hell were you thinking?! What if that was meant to kill you? There aren't any damn respawn points around here, that would've been permanent!" She scolds the octoling, her lips set in a scowl. Ellie can't help but flinch at the inkling's harsh tone, recoiling and looking away guiltily. She may not understand every word Three is sayng, but she understands that she didsomethingwrong.. After a few moments, Three pauses in her tirade, and lets out a quiet sigh.

"... Sorry about that. Didn't mean to blow up at you. Just... I was already stressed out, even before all this- underground bullshit."

There's another sigh, and Three gently pushes past the octoling, dropping her head against the wall.

"At least we know these things are safe now, all they do is give you weapons. Fuckin' weird tech though, why waste time in a machine when you can just carry your gun with you?"

Ellie shrugs in confusion. She understands that sentiment perfectly well, but since she didn't have her own weapon, she guessed she'd have to stick to these for now. Bluh.

As the two cephalopods ponder the point of an equipper machine, two sets of ears perk up as they hear the familiar, if a bit muffled, _shwing_ of an Octarian key.

"Bingo. Let's go find it, then. It sounds like it's up on that ledge, maybe?"

The taller octoling nods, and they make their way into the room, scanning the area for anything other than the key that might be useful.

* * *

After almost twenty minutes of breaking boxes and launching themselves with belts, Three getting in a tiny bit of extra practice and Ellie testing her throwing arm, they finally leave the room, Ellie groaning a little bit as the machine takes her weapon away from her. She was nearly defenceless without one, aside from her claws. which made both her, and the Agent she was stuck with very nervous.

"Mmmm... this is weird. I don't trust it. We need to figure out how to get you a weapon from outside one of those things. Actually, what's your best weapon? we could probably at least build a makeshift, until we get decent parts."

Ellie perks up. Three seemed to be getting a lot more comfortable with her, and she was glad for it. She didn't think she could handle the tension they'd had before for much longer.

"**_Brush!!"_** She smiles, making a sort of slapping motion with her hand. Three pauses for a moment, thinking, and then nods quietly.

"Alright... if we find the right parts, we can definitely make you a brush. And... let's get to work on your Inklish. First, whatever you just said, the Inklish word for that is 'Brush'. Try it out."

"B... Brush. Brush!" Ellie can't help giggling, a bright smile on her face, and she decides to test out names. Pointing first to the agent in front of her, and then to herself, she stutters out another attempt at the inkling language. "You... Tree. My El-lie."

That gets a small smirk out of the green inkling, and she shakes her head. "Close, but not quite. You're learning quick, though, so it shouldn't take too long for you to get the hang of it."

Ellie seems pleased with herself, and lets out a little purring noise as the pair starts off down the hallway, past the lock and into the unknown once again.


End file.
